This specification relates to tracking development and distribution of software applications, such as mobile apps created for smart phones.
Software applications are often made available for purchase over the Internet, such as through the World Wide Web. Typically, some information concerning each software application is made available free of charge, for example, in order to assist users in determining whether or not the software application would be useful for them on the computing device(s) for which the software applications is intended. Such information includes information that is readily visible when visiting a website, as well as information that may require some extra steps to get access to it without having to purchase or download the software application itself Moreover, such information can be valuable to other parties, such as companies that want to compile information regarding many software applications available from multiple different software application distribution systems (e.g., the APPLE® APP STORE or the ANDROID® MARKET). Various companies regularly access such information from the various software application distribution systems, such as by using web scraping techniques, accessing an application program interface (API) provided by a particular software application distribution system, or downloading particular files associated with the software applications.